Peer Review History

Original SubmissionNovember 24, 2019
Decision Letter - Baogui Xin, Editor

PONE-D-19-29952

Software development outsourcing failure: Identification, categorization and ranking of the customarily occurring requirements engineering issues

PLOS ONE

Dear Dr. Iqbal,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript to PLOS ONE. After careful consideration, we feel that it has merit but does not fully meet PLOS ONE’s publication criteria as it currently stands. Therefore, we invite you to submit a revised version of the manuscript that addresses the points raised during the review process.

I recommend that it should be revised taking into account the changes requested by the first reviewer. I would like to give you a chance to revise your manuscript. However, the manuscript will only be reviewed by the Academic Editor in the next round.

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We look forward to receiving your revised manuscript.

Kind regards,

Baogui Xin, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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Reviewers' comments:

Reviewer's Responses to Questions

Comments to the Author

1. Is the manuscript technically sound, and do the data support the conclusions?

The manuscript must describe a technically sound piece of scientific research with data that supports the conclusions. Experiments must have been conducted rigorously, with appropriate controls, replication, and sample sizes. The conclusions must be drawn appropriately based on the data presented.

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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2. Has the statistical analysis been performed appropriately and rigorously?

Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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3. Have the authors made all data underlying the findings in their manuscript fully available?

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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Reviewer #1: Yes

Reviewer #2: Yes

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5. Review Comments to the Author

Please use the space provided to explain your answers to the questions above. You may also include additional comments for the author, including concerns about dual publication, research ethics, or publication ethics. (Please upload your review as an attachment if it exceeds 20,000 characters)

Reviewer #1: The paper seems technically sound and very intelligently written and hence is a good addition in the software engg domain. Following minor improvements are suggested to further improve the paper.

1. The title of the paper is too long and sounds ambiguous. The authors may consider to re-structure the title.

2. Throughout the text the author has not taken care of the capital and small letters.

3. Page 3, Line 51, "The RE related errors occur commonly during 62 SDLC [25]. According to an industrial survey, such errors are 48%" the statement needs to be justified. The context is not clear.

4. Page 15, Table 1. the table should also mention the % of finally accepted papers as compared to initially identified papers.

5. Page 12, Table 2, the identified issues and shortfalls need to be justified.

6. Before conclusion section, the author should have a detailed discussion section.

7. Limitation and future work section needs to be added.

Reviewer #2: Author has performed an extensive and detailed study. He resulted with great outcomes.

Authors have done excellent job for Software development outsourcing failure: Identification, categorization and ranking of

the customarily occurring requirements engineering issues.

A detail delphi process is adopted on extensive data set and a good quality of evidence were collected from literature too to support their claim.

**********

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Reviewer #1: Yes: Dr Basit Shahzad

Reviewer #2: Yes: Kinza Mehr Awan

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Revision 1

REVIEWER 1:

1: The title of the paper is too long and sounds ambiguous. The authors may consider to re-structure the title.

Response:The title has been changed.

2: Throughout the text the author has not taken care of the capital and small letters.

Response:The paper has been reviewed thoroughly and reviewer’s concern has been addressed. The changes have been highlighted.

3: Page 3, Line 51, "The RE related errors occur commonly during 62 SDLC [25]. According to an industrial survey, such errors are 48%" the statement needs to be justified. The context is not clear.

Response:More information have been added to make the context clear.

4: Page 15, Table 1. the table should also mention the % of finally accepted papers as compared to initially identified papers.

Response:A new column has been introduced in Table 1 to mention required percentage.

5: Page 12, Table 2, the identified issues and shortfalls need to be justified.

Response:Done as recommended.

6: Before conclusion section, the author should have a detailed discussion section.

Response:Discussion section has been added.

7: Limitation and future work section needs to be added.

Response:Limitations and future work have been added.

REVIEWER 2:

Author has performed an extensive and detailed study. He resulted with great outcomes.

Authors have done excellent job for Software development outsourcing failure: Identification, categorization and ranking of

the customarily occurring requirements engineering issues.

A detail Delphi process is adopted on extensive data set and a good quality of evidence were collected from literature too to support their claim.

Response: We appreciate the comment.

Attachments
Attachment
Submitted filename: Response to Reviewers.odt
Decision Letter - Baogui Xin, Editor

Requirements engineering issues causing software development outsourcing failure

PONE-D-19-29952R1

Dear Dr. Iqbal,

We are pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been judged scientifically suitable for publication and will be formally accepted for publication once it complies with all outstanding technical requirements.

Within one week, you will receive an e-mail containing information on the amendments required prior to publication. When all required modifications have been addressed, you will receive a formal acceptance letter and your manuscript will proceed to our production department and be scheduled for publication.

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With kind regards,

Baogui Xin, Ph.D.

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

Additional Editor Comments (optional):

Reviewers' comments:

Formally Accepted
Acceptance Letter - Baogui Xin, Editor

PONE-D-19-29952R1

Requirements engineering issues causing software development outsourcing failure

Dear Dr. Iqbal:

I am pleased to inform you that your manuscript has been deemed suitable for publication in PLOS ONE. Congratulations! Your manuscript is now with our production department.

If your institution or institutions have a press office, please notify them about your upcoming paper at this point, to enable them to help maximize its impact. If they will be preparing press materials for this manuscript, please inform our press team within the next 48 hours. Your manuscript will remain under strict press embargo until 2 pm Eastern Time on the date of publication. For more information please contact onepress@plos.org.

For any other questions or concerns, please email plosone@plos.org.

Thank you for submitting your work to PLOS ONE.

With kind regards,

PLOS ONE Editorial Office Staff

on behalf of

Prof. Baogui Xin

Academic Editor

PLOS ONE

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